Juddmonte International: runner-by-runner guide and tip

A record £1,250,000 will be up for grabs when the Juddmonte International is staged at York on Wednesday. It represents a 25 per cent increase in value, cementing it as the richest race run on the Knavesmire. 

The support of Juddmonte for this flagship ten-furlong contest dates back to 1989. Over those 35 years, it has regularly featured the famous green and pink silks of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah, with Twice Over (2011) and Frankel (2012) taking the spoils.

And the extra cash injection has been rewarded with a dazzling final field of 13 declared. If they all stand their ground, it will be the biggest field this century, and only the second time since 2000 that we have had a double-figure line-up (Postponed won a 12-runner edition in 2016).

Juddmonte’s exciting filly Bluestocking takes her chance and Durezza travels over from France, but it is Derby winner City Of Troy who heads this year's cast. Here’s a guide to all the  runners.

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 118. Odds: 8/1. 

Those who believe in horses for courses will have him somewhere near the top of their shortlist. 

He’s travelled to the Knavesmire on four occasions and his form reads 2111. His sole defeat came in a nursery at the Ebor meeting in 2021, and he’s since reeled off three successive Group victories at the track – the past two being in the Sky Bet York Stakes over the same trip as the International. 

The problem for his connections, and supporters, is that he’s come up short on the two occasions he’s tackled Group One company, when fifth in last year’s Irish Champion and when fourth to Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. In his defence, he was making his seasonal reappearance in the latter and probably short of his peak. 

The five-year-old entire will add spice but it will perhaps be a little surprising if at least one of the three-year-olds does not take advantage of the 7lb weight-for-age concession. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 115. Odds: 40/1. 

The 2023 Britannia Stakes winner put up a personal best when chasing home Charyn in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last time. He was no match for the winner but that form is working out well, with the winner following up in the Jacques le Marois and the third home, Majloom, going on to chase home Notable Speech in the Sussex Stakes. Meanwhile, Audience, who was fifth, has romped home in the Lennox Stakes. 

Docklands has generally been strong at the finish of his races over a mile, but whether he will be as effective over this longer trip remains to be seen, for all that he has middle-distance performers in his pedigree. 

Group One wins: 1. Official Rating: 120. Odds: 33/1. 

Japan came close to International glory with Zenno Rob Roy (beaten a neck) in 2005 and seek to go one better with this four-year-old colt. 

He was unbeaten in four starts last year, signing off with an emphatic victory in the Japanese St Leger despite being drawn widest of all. The placed horses were themselves Group One winners, and we know how strong Japan are now on the world stage. 

However, Durezza was no match for Prognosis on his return in a Group Two, and ran poorly in the Tenno Sho the following month. So he arrives under something of a cloud, with a lot less expectation than Zenno Rob Roy carried over with him. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 102. Odds: 200/1. 

The Frankel colt was a 450,000gns purchase as a yearling, but now finds himself deployed as a Ballydoyle pacemaker for such as City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 115. Odds: 33/1. 

Baaeed and Mostahdaf have hit the target for Shadwell Estate in the past two renewals but Israr is a big price to keep them on a roll. 

He’s got plenty of ability but one win from his eight runs in Group races point to him being tricky to win with. 

Israr took full advantage of a drop in class when an emphatic winner of the Listed Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot, but he’s going to need plenty more in this company. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 119. Odds: 25/1. 

He’s had something of a bumpy ride since his luckless reverse in the 2022 St James’s Palace Stakes, when he was tasting defeat for the first time. 

We have only seen him four times since, owing to issues, but it’s encouraging he’s had three outings this term and taken a step forward each time. 

He kept on to be a never-dangerous third in the Queen Anne (almost three lengths behind Docklands) and was again doing his best work at the finish when runner-up to Notable Speech in the Sussex Stakes. He certainly looks well worth a go over this longer trip, although his pedigree would not give you much confidence that it would suit. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 113. Odds: 50/1. 

His five career wins have all been achieved on good to soft ground or slower, and ante-post punters should be aware that he’s been a non-runner four times on account of fast going. 

Maybe his connections have had second thoughts about the surface he requires because he’s had successive outings on good to firm going – finishing fifth to Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot before finishing last of four behind Alflaila (beaten a couple of lengths) in the Sky Bet York Stakes. 

He looks among the weak links here, even if there are unexpected thunderstorms. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 116. Odds: 16/1. 

If one French raider (Calandagan) doesn’t upstage the British and Irish runners, then another might in the shape of Zarakem. 

This four-year-old reeled off five successive wins last year in shallower waters before changing hands for €500,000 last autumn and has raised his game this term. 

He had such as Horizon Dore and Feed The Flame behind when winning in Group Two company on his return at Longchamp and beat all bar Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last time, when having his first race on a sound surface. 

He got to within three quarters of a length of the winner after travelling well and you can possibly mark up the effort as he briefly had to wait for a gap in the straight. 

Zarakem had Alflaila three lengths adrift that day, but that’s not reflected by the betting. 

Group One wins: 1. Official Rating: 117. Odds: 16/1. 

Her connections have taken the plunge. She represents the race sponsors or instead of waiting for the Yorkshire Oaks, 24 hours later, when she would have been a short-priced favourite.

It is a bold move to head in this direction, but not outlandish. 

After all, she was impressive when winning the Middleton Stakes over course and distance on her return in May, and then performed wonders to overhaul Emily Upjohn in the Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh after that rival had looked to have stolen a march.

Bluestocking reverted to a mile and a half for the King George last time and confirmed herself a more complete model this campaign by beating all bar Goliath. She’s certainly put a frustrating 2023 behind her, when she ran a string of fine races but failed to get her head in front. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 117. Odds: 8/1. 

He was the last horse off the bridle in the Derby when trading odds-on in-running on Betfair. Ditto the Irish Derby. City Of Troy outstayed him in the former. Then Los Angeles and Sunway did the same in the latter. 

The Gleneagles colt looked like a horse screaming out for a shorter trip, although before those defeats he had bolted up in the Lingfield Classic Trial over the best part of 12 furlongs, looking as fresh as a daisy at the finish. 

That is perhaps a red herring. The Lingfield race was on quick ground against lesser opposition and run in a time 14 seconds quicker than the Derby. It tested speed, much more than stamina. 

Everything points to an extended ten furlongs on a sound surface being perfect for Ambiente Friendly, and he will have had 52 days to recharge his batteries. 

He can get a little edgy in the preliminaries and race a bit keenly but, equally, his efforts on the racecourse have been hard to fault and he’s entitled to be a more maturer model. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 110++. Odds: 7/1. 

Like Ambiente Friendly, Calandagan is another son of Gleneagles. That horse missed the 2015 International when the ground eased. 

He seeks to become the French-trained winner of the race since 1987, when the wonderful Triptych prevailed, and will belatedly try and give the Aga Khan a second victory, after his silks were last carried to glory in 1986 via Shardari. 

He’s certainly an intriguing contender after his demolition job in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last time. 

Doubts about his ability to cope with the quick ground proved completely unfounded as he surged clear to win by six lengths in a slick time. Five of the past six winners of that race have gone on to win at the highest level, and he will surely be another. 

Calandagan was strong at the finish at Ascot, and the drop back in trip is not an obvious plus. That said, he would have won whatever the distance last time and he had previously reeled off successive Group Three wins in France over shorter. 

Soft ground looks unlikely, but it wouldn’t be a bother to him if it materialised. As a gelding, he’s barred from various races, such as the Arc, bringing this firmly into his sights. 

Group One wins: 3. Official Rating: 124. Odds: 8/11. 

He’s set to become the first Derby winner to run in this race since Golden Horn, who suffered a shock reverse in the 2015 renewal. 

Authorized (2007), Sea The Stars (2009) and Australia (2014) have pulled off the double this century, and City Of Troy will be a short price to emulate them and, in the process, give Aidan O’Brien a record seventh International triumph. 

Last season’s champion two-year-old ran lamentably on his return in the 2000 Guineas but then came that emphatic success at Epsom, followed by a workmanlike defeat of Al Riffa and Ghostwriter in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, when his connections suggested the soft ground and race tactics blunted his powers. 

Al Riffa gave the form a boost when running away with a Group One prize in Germany at the weekend, while the well-beaten fourth, See The Fire, has since gone close in the Nassau Stakes. So, a slightly underwhelming display at Sandown now looks healthier. 

City Of Troy has never officially run on ground quicker than “good”, so fast terrain at York would ask a new question. Equally, there’s nothing in his action or pedigree to suggest it will pose a problem. The extended ten furlongs and long straight should play to his strengths and the official ratings point to him having a bit up his sleeve. 

Group One wins: 0. Official Rating: 112. Odds: 20/1. 

It’s easy to forget that he was unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, signing off with a gritty success in the Royal Lodge at Newmarket. 

He’s come up short in his three Group One assignments this season but has shown he’s well up to this level, despite circumstances being against him. 

A solid fourth in the 2000 Guineas on his return, over a trip on the short side for him, he has since finished fourth in French Derby and then third in the Coral-Eclipse, when soft ground possibly wasn’t ideal on either occasion. 

At Sandown, he threatened to eyeball City Of Troy running down to the final furlong, only for that rival to carry him across the track a little. It may also have been a case that the winner, who ended up finishing two lengths ahead of him, had greater stamina reserves. 

Ghostwriter is a fine stamp of a horse who looks the type to keep improving through the year. Back on quicker ground, it would be folly to discount him. 

City Of Troy deserves to be at the head of the market but AMBIENTE FRIENDLY is a class act in his own right and dropping in trip may show him in an even better light. At the general 8/1 on offer, he rates a solid each-way play in a fabulous edition.